That’s not true, the sweepy can only go so far up the router regardless because of a lip on the bottom that holds it there.
ahh, understood.
I wasn’t aware there was a lip, something you could - if so inclined, machine out.
You could take some fabric and tape it to the outside of the Sweepy, cut lots of slits to replicate bristles.
Quick way to do so is fold the piece a couple times to multiply the cut. Obviously this isn’t ideal, but simply a workaround.
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I was glad to see these are now included with the machines as I have silently lamented the fact that the most frustrating thing for me to get things up and running was addressing dust collection. I suspect like many others I purchased this as it was designed specifically for the shapeoko and with the expectation that it would excel with this machine. I just received mine and was excited to test it out last night and ran into the same issue as the OP. I was able to adjust the bit for the test cut I was making, but can see this being an issue down the road making deeper cuts, etc.
Recognizing that it is also significantly more reasonably priced than the alternatives, it seems that it isn’t as flexible as I had hoped. Though it definitely works, it seems like the “accessories” you mentioned may make make it into what I was hoping for-- a truly user-friendly dust shoe for the shapeoko out of the box, that isn’t ($120+). I hope you consider providing any of these improvements/accessories to those who have already purchased (and along with the boot for new machines) as has already been suggested by others.
Thinking outside of the box you could change your retract/clearance height and approach / lead in so that it approaches your workpiece from the side. Lots of ways around it, but your point is well taken.
Well dang, I was hoping Sweepy would have a ‘No Job Too Small’ motto. Did a bit of cutting today with a 0.0625 end mill and Sweepy wasn’t going to help me at all in this case.
As you can see, even a small job can create a large amount of debris. I’m wondering if removing the lip stop for the router would allow enough room for at least a 0.125 mill to work. Not really ready to start operating on Sweepy yet though.
I’ll try again tomorrow using a 0.25 end mill and see if the tool reach is long enough to accommodate Sweepy.
UPDATE
Found these two posts added to the original announcement:
So I’ll try removing the bristles and getting shorter ones from Granger, or removing the base entirely. Thanks @neilferreri and @wmoy!
**** 24 Hours Later ****
Kludged together an adapter from the vacuum hose to Sweepy with reasonably good results. However, real world testing as suggested in the above posts is somewhat disappointing I’m sad to say.
After the same amount of cutting I’ve got pretty much the same amount of chips. On to bigger things to cut with cleaner results 
Hi, are you thinking it’ll be some sort of “set” of different bottoms with different length bristles or length options to be purchased separately? Thanks
That’s my understanding.
You’d have to check w/ @Luke and @robgrz and @edwardrford and @Jorge for the official statement.
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Can we also ask @Luke @robgrz @edwardrford and @Jorge why you’re selling it with bristles that don’t work please?
Respectfully, you’re missing the point; they don’t work in your particular application. Longer bristles wouldn’t work in other applications. There is no perfect solution in the market at the moment. Greater variety of bristles = higher price. I would surmise/guess they made a business decision to offer something (for free) that didn’t’ come with a purchase of a S3 previously while not eating into margin TOO much. It’s not a $100 shoe, which btw doesn’t work in every situation either and has problems with it too.
Bend the brushes, buy longer brushes and replace, adjust your tool-paths, or go buy a suckit dustboot for $120 and realize it’s imperfect too.
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We always intend to roll out a series of bases for use with Sweepy. No one brush length suits all applications.
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Can you snap a shot of how you had it setup?
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I just cut a rather large project with the Sweepy on 3/4" plywood. It worked like a charm. The bit extended just slightly outside the brush length and I did not see a single piece of dust after the 5 parts were cut out.
I understand there is a need for longer and maybe even shorter brushes but for 3/4" or less it works great.
And even if I have to spend another $30 for a couple of brushheads I am way ahead of purchasing another brush head that works no better in cost.
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Can you take a picture of your setup with 3/4 stock please?
@Luke I’m cutting another job with a V-bit currently, but this is how I had Sweepy attached when doing the additional cuts with the 0.0625 end mill:
From the prior set of pictures, I’m sure you saw that Sweepy wouldn’t fit using the 0.0625 mill. To be fair, I would guess that some of the smaller particles were picked up with this set up.
For those interested, my kludged together vacuum hose is a 1.25" PVC slip fitting shortened and notched and a 1.25" PVC nipple filed down to fit in an old pool sweep hose that attaches to my dust collection system. Fits great!
I get this, my situation is not rare though, it’s a very basic use case for a cnc, one that this dust boot does not accommodate. You can not plunge cut stock over like 5/8 safely with the bristles that are sold with the dust boot.
There is no indication at all that this dust boot will not work in this very common situation, not on the product page, the email or the marketing video they release. If there had been any indication of this I wouldn’t have purchase it and moved on to find another solution. Now I’m stuck with a dust boot that doesn’t work as is and at best I’ll have to hack to make it work at all. That’s not what I was buying and it’s disappointing. It feels like a hap hazard product release and based on the other comments in this thread, other threads on this forum and reddit I’m not the only one that feels this way.
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@MarkDGaal I’ve no real complaints and I’m going to go over to Granger today and see if I can get some different length brushes. I really think Sweepy is a great product and don’t expect perfection. Reading the pluses and minuses of the SuckIt dust boot delayed my purchase until Sweepy came along. With a little effort everything can be improved and I’ll let everyone know the part numbers if I do find something at Granger.
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Perhaps it would be helpful to all to retitle this post from “Problem with…” to something that would be more helpful to prospective purchasers?
“Using the new Sweepy Dust Boot” perhaps?
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Ah I get you.
So in some cases Winston will run his with the base but minus the brush strip. Would your end mill reach in that situation? It will pick up way more dust that way - otherwise it’s just following the router?
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You missed the point of the thread.
It does not work. Poor Design. Should not be on the market unless carbide3d in committing business suicide.
I bought the 120 dollar Suckit and the ears and I never use it in an application that compresses the brushes. It routinely shoots stuff out the sides and also has the annoying crunch the center plate thing to deal with lol. When I am cutting at 3/4 on a wide surface it works great, otherwise in most instances it is just a vertical chip shield running around sucking mostly air and no dust.
I missed the part in the description that claimed for 30$ that Sweepy was a magic dust remover that works in all instances, I would assume you would adjust the brush height to hover over the material being cut or just not use it, the same method as the competition that is 4+X more expensive.
I just got mine today, I will give it a try and see if I get all insulting and bitter afterwards like some others… Haha sigh…
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